MPs on Thursday grumbled about the defence ministry lacking a building of its own, continuing to be housed in rented premises costing some €800,000 a year.

The matter came up during a discussion of the findings of a recent Audit Office report on the defence ministry and the National Guard.

The defence ministry still lacks self-owned premises. The ministry and the National Guard headquarters are jointly housed in a building in Nicosia for which the rent comes to €800,000 a year.

Akel MP Costas Costa said this was unacceptable, and a waste of public moneys.

Responding, a defence ministry official said they have done much of the preparatory work – such as technical studies – and are waiting on the finance ministry to green-light the funds for the construction of self-owned premises.

He said a site has been selected for the new building housing the defence ministry. It would be located in Lakatamia, near the airbase. Its square area would come to 22,000 square metres.

“Now the government must take the decision. We will ask for the project to be classed as a special project so it can be expedited.”

Under the current circumstances, it would take about five years for the building to be finished.

Akis Kikas, a senior functionary at the Audit Office, opined that the new building would not be ready by the expiry date of the lease for the current premises. The lease on the current premises would therefore have to be extended.

Another finding of the Audit Office concerned the food served in the National Guard.

Panayiotis Simeou, a senior official at the defence ministry, said that catering services cover 47 per cent of the needs of conscripts, while nine per cent is covered with frozen meals – chiefly for isolated outposts.

The auditor-general had also flagged a problem with requisitioning and expropriations of private property for use by the military. Here the problem has to do with irregular record-keeping, as the system used by the military is incompatible with the Government Data Warehouse.

Lieutenant-general Neofytos Pachoulides, the deputy chief of the National Guard, answered MPs’ questions regarding the ongoing practice of using military jeeps to drive officers from home to work – in breach of regulations.

Officially, only the National Guard chief is exempted from this prohibition.

Pachoulides conceded the irregular practice is continuing, but said the military is trying to “limit” the practice as far as possible.

The lieutenant-general was also queried about an incident occurring in late October, when a rocket launcher pod detached from an airborne helicopter and fell into a residential area in Peyia, Paphos.

There were no injuries or damage to property.

Pachoulides said two probes are underway – a military inquest and an in-house investigation.

The initial findings point to “human error”.

The final report on the incident is expected by the end of the year.